Ukrainian PM confirms plans to launch satellite in 2011
KIEV. August 12. KAZINFORM Ukraine will launch its own communications satellite in 2011 despite the current political crisis in the country, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said on Wednesday; Kazinform cites RIA Novosti.
The satellite, dubbed Lybid, is being developed by the Yuzhnoye design bureau to be launched on the Zenit-3 LV carrier rocket. The development has been slow due to the shortage of funding.
"I think everything will turn out fine with politics in Ukraine, and we will be able to bring this project to a logical conclusion by September 2011," Tymoshenko told a Cabinet meeting.
The National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU) earlier said the Lybid project would be financed by the Canadian MDA company.
NSAU is expecting to receive a $254 million loan from MDA in April 2010; Kazinform refers to RIA Novosti.
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